Any update from the patient?
Thanks for checking up on me! Here is the story of the surgery and recovery.
My aunt just found out she needs to have her gall bladder removed (the surgery date will be set later this week). Because of gall bladder symptoms her doctor put her on a diet of clear liquids last week and she needs to remain on that for a couple more weeks. Besides flavored gelatin and broth (chicken or beef), she can had apple juice, cranberry juice and tea.
A clear liquid diet is low in calories and most vitamins and minerals. Since it is used for such a short time.After her gall bladder surgery, she will be started on clear liquids again, then full liquids (any food liquid at body temperature 98.6 degrees F) and finally a regular diet.
Nevermind … I didn’t realize we were talking about zombie gall-bladders.
Yeah, you could die from the surgery.
(the odds dont matter much when it is “YOU” who does the dying)
Weird. The only dietary restrictions I was on prior to my surgery were to avoid fats. Oh - of course the day of surgery it was fast-after-midnight but that is true for any surgery. Liquids-only sounds like overkill for routine surgery - is there something more going on in your aunt’s case?
The colonoscopy-prep thing is also highly unusual. Has the doctor given some reason for this?
I’m glad that things turned out OK for the OP.
My anecdote: both of my parents had their gall bladders out within a few months of each other. My mother had a full recovery. My father had complications.
My father apparently either formed some stones in the bile duct, or they missed some, because a few years after the surgery, he passed a stone into his pancreas and developed acute pancreatitis. He nearly died at the time, and spent months in the hospital.
Because of the damage to his pancreas, he later developed diabetes, and other complications that ultimately led to his untimely death about 20 years later. He was only 60 years old. 
I’m now right about the age at which my parents had their gall bladders out. :eek:
I was quite apprehensive about the gallbladder surgery, primarily because I had never experienced any severe attacks. I had only two “episodes”, 5 days apart, last week. I was visiting my surgeon for a prep consultation as I was already scheduled to have a mild umbilical hernia repair today. When I casually mentioned my two episodes, he said they sounded like they could be gallbladder related.
My symptoms: epigastric distress. It didn’t feel like heartburn. It came on mid meal the first time (but I’d only had a few bites!), and just after a small breakfast while I was trying to drink my coffee. I wouldn’t even go so far as to call it pain, just severe discomfort, like a sudden fullness. Putting my fist above my belly button and beneath the sternum covered the area. Closest description would be the way one feels after having that second piece of pie after a Thanksgiving feast.
My surgeon sent me for an ultrasound that afternoon which didn’t particularly define things unequivocally. It showed sludge, a thickness or inflammation of the wall, and possibly stones. He said I may have an attack in a few weeks, a few months, tomorrow or never. I might dislodge a stone into my liver or pancreas.
I realized that an emergent situation is never good, especially, since I travel regularly, sometimes out of the country. And since I was already “going under”, and general anesthesia is an event I’d like to minimize, it did seem to make sense. On the flip side, I was worried about the fact that removal of an organ isn’t something to be taken lightly, and, while the umbilical hernia repair was going to require a small incision just below my belly button, the laparascopic cholecystectomy would add 4 puncture wounds.
I hashed it over in my brain and with others, in and out of the medical field. My mom had had hers out at 30 after months of misdiagnosis and debilitating symptoms. My daughter had hers out at 17 (and, coincidentally, an umbilical hernia repair at 20). But she had also dramatic pain before her diagnosis. Finally, my sister asked me how I would have advised my daughter. And the decision was made.
Great decision. Turns out my gallbladder was abnormally larger and held a rather large stone. The skilled nurses hit my IV the first time. I experienced no nausea and have moved from ice chips and cranberry juice in the recovery room to a fluffed utter sandwich with milk, to turkey soup and now frozen yogurt. Maybe I’ll feel lousy later, but so far, so good. I took the IV pain meds at the hospital and accepted a Vicodin as I was being wheeled out. I’ve had one Norco and a Keflex since being home and will have two Norco before bedtime. Oh, and stool softeners. Don’t forget those.
I have been mobile with very moderate pain, throughout my abdomen generally, specifically up under my right rib cage and a bit of the gas pain they warn about under my left collar bone. Surprising to me, the pain under my ribcage, which I assume is directly related to the organ removal, is familiar to me. I’ve had it off and on for years, but it was relatively mild and I always found a way to attribute it to something else. I do know that some mornings I would try to lie on my right side for a few more winks and would have to reposition because of the pain. I’m beginning to believe it was my gallbladder all along.
So, fear not. I conquered my fears and am interested to see how, in the weeks ahead, other “casual” idiosyncrasies may turn out to be related to that stone. Of course, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but it’s all good now!
This is Turtletat again with an addendum to my original post. I’ve never done this before and could not find a way to edit it, so, thanks to auto-correct, “fluffernutter” sandwich appeared as “fluffed utter” sandwich. Just wanted to clarify that. Not even sure what that would look like, but it sounds vile. Also, I was visiting my surgeon for a “pre-op”, not “prep” consultation.
Full disclosure, I am an RN, so you’d think I would have been a bit more relaxed about the whole event. I took the max pain med dosing through the night. I didn’t sleep well, but wouldn’t say it was because of the pain. I am in pain, still, but not nearly as much as I’d feared. I have been able to make breakfast and do a bit of laundry. I make take a walk around the block later. I have only passed gas once, though, and am beginning to think these stool softeners are not doing what they are supposed to. Nap time.
How were your shoulders? My worst pain after a laparoscopic procedure was in my shoulders - something about the gas they bloat up your belly with or something.
Yeah, that carbon dioxide gas is a killer. Much worse than the incisions.
Make sure you drink a lot of liquid, and load up on a lot of oral fiber as well (I was chowing down on raisin bran and dried fruit for 3 days after mine).
For me (and a friend who had hers done a couple of days later), it was about 3 days before things… moved.
I was told not to lift anything heavy - so make sure you’re not toting anything heavier than a laundry basket for a few weeks!!
And make sure you don’t absentmindedly try to nudge the grocery cart forward with your stomach when you’re shopping - you’ll scare the produce clerk! Seriously - he happened to be looking at me, and saw the expression of pain and pissed-off surprise on my face. That happened about 2 weeks post-op.
I had one gall bladder attack and it was horrible. I had the surgery the next week (full incision because I’d had previous abdominal surgery). It took the full six weeks to recover, but just the knowledge that I will never have an attack like that again made it worthwhile.
I had no problems before the attack; it just came out of the blue.
Thanks, Mama Zappa. Trying to stay hydrated. Nothing to crow about, yet. Gloating is getting pretty miserable. About to have a cup of Smooth Move tea and assume the “stinkbug” position. And I am definitely the person to absentmindedly injure myself. I will be hyper aware. I can use all the hot tips!
I know this thread is old and all but I know three people who have had their gallbladder removed, all three now suffer from chronic diarrhea brought on by eating fatty foods. At least one isn’t even sure they actually had gallstones, if you have good insurance it seems like a popular surgery to suggest for the hell of it. In each case the physician advised them they would see no differences in their life and would not need special diets.
I’d probably put up with a fair bit of pain myself before deciding to have my own out but thats me.
The surgery is necessary if the gallstones are present (which patients should always have confirmed with an abdominal ultrasound) and actually causing problems. Surgeons are not supposed to remove healthy organs.
Trust me on this, though: if you ever feel the pain of biliary colic from gallstones getting stuck, you will not want to go through it again.
True!!
Ignoring a gallbladder that’s going bad (full of stones) can be dangerous. Someone we know asked me for info on the surgery last summer… she had a stone stuck in a duct. She had that stone removed endoscopically (though the stomach) somehow - and put off the actual surgery.
Well, she wound up having to have it done on an emergency basis a few weeks ago, and had the old fashioned big incision because it was so messed up - it had gone necrotic on her.
So - if you’ve been diagnosed with gallstones - or have had an attack that seems like it - beware that basically you’ve got a ticking time bomb in your belly. A very careful diet can reduce the likelihood of another attack, but will not eliminate it.
Yes, some people do have long-term digestive issues as a result. Not most - for example while I did have a few instances of the “clench-cheeked run-waddle”, that quickly passed. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, used to commute into New York City via the Port Authority bus terminal… she learned that she could put up with the bathrooms there when she had no other choice :p.
Also - sometimes they recommend gallbladder removal for people with “sludge” vs. visible stones. I believe that may be more likely to result in longer-term digestive issues but I could be misunderstanding. I know I asked the surgeon about post-cholecystectomy syndrome and he said it was more likely in people whose gallbladder issues were less clearcut (like mine, where it was very obvious that I had true gallstones).
Mine had gotten so loaded with stones that the g.b. had contracted around them and it was about to burst. It had gotten infected and inflamed. I’m just lucky I didn’t keep it long enough to get gangrene.
The shoulder pain never materialized into much. Yesterday, I found myself supporting my belly whenever I was vertical and eventually wrapped a scarf around my abdomen for support? Meanwhile, last night after dinner (post-op day three), after a day during which my pain had both localized to my umbilical area (remember, I’d also had an open umbilical hernia repair the same day as my gallbladder removal) and begun to spread into general acheyness, I realized my cheek felt warm. My temp was, in fact, 99.2. It quickly rose to 100.8 and @ 101.2 I called my doc. His service didn’t pick up, so my husband took me to the ER. By then my head was killing me, my eyes were burning, and everything hurt. In triage my temp was 101.9.
After Tylenol, bloodwork, a chest x-ray, an MRI, a liter of IV fluid, IV antibiotics, morphine and something to prevent nausea, my temp was down and I felt better. But, thank goodness, all the tests came out negative. No idea why the temp, but I haven’t had a fever today, and I believe pain wise, I’m over the hump. My doc’s office called today and the radiologist had noted some swelling to my right lower abdomen. They were considering appendicitis, but my lack of fever and pain to that area combined with normal labs reassured them otherwise.
Never having had surgery before, I don’t know if my discomfort is par for the course. I do know it’s not good to have a post-op fever over 101. Thank God I was able to have a bowel movement yesterday. But I do still feel uncomfortable in my gut, a shooting or tugging pain with a sensation that things are moving around in there, but not in a good way. It reminds me of when I was pregnant and my baby would move his fist across my belly. I am still having a headache off and on but am beginning to attribute that to not having had a good night’s sleep since last Tuesday. Also, I quit taking the Norco a couple of days ago. I don’t think the benefit outweighed the fog; I think it may have been contributing to my headaches. Doc said I could try ibuprofen or Excedrin (for headache), and so far ibuprofen was sufficient.
IANAD but I’ve had a number of laparascopic and other abdominal surgeries. Sometimes there is pain caused by the fact that they use gas to “open up” your innards so they can see what they’re doing. After you’re sewed up, that gas moves around until it finds a natural exit. It’s not unusual for it to move upwards into the shoulder area. And then down into the abdomen, or anywhere else it wants to.
Good for you heading back to the ER when you ran a fever. As you probably know, that can be a sign of infection. I hope your condition continues to improve.